An empirical basis for determining the multidimensional structure of leisure

Abstract

To explain fully the structural nature of leisure, there is a need to use strategies that are both direct in approach and empirical in nature. This study examined such a strategy; its purpose was to illustrate a technique for analyzing the dimensionality of leisure. Multidimensional scaling (MDS) was used to develop a potential set of traits that are descriptive of leisure activities and multiple regression provided a means for a direct empirical assessment of this set of traits. It was concluded that (a) multidimensional scaling provides a useful tool for direct investigation of the structural nature of leisure, and (b) multiple regression can provide an empirical alternative to visual interpretations of the results.

Keywords:

• Leisure
• multidimensional scaling
• taxonomy
• regression
• activity traits